MOUNT VERNON — In a judgment released Friday afternoon by Knox County Common Pleas Judge Otho Eyster, Erica D. Colopy was found guilty of endangering children, a felony in the third degree.
Additional charges of involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault were not upheld, as Eyster’s verdict found these charges were not proven by the state beyond a reasonable doubt. This decision followed about 28 hours of deliberation by the judge.
“We’re pleased with the decision in the fact that Erica didn’t do anything (to cause the death of Donavon Poole),” said Colopy’s defense attorney James Giles.
Giles chose to put only one witness on the stand for the defense, Dr. Steven Guertin, medical director for the Sparrow Children’s Center at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich. Guertin testified he believes Donavon’s fatal injuries were the result of an accidental fall, not from violent shaking as the prosecution claimed.
“We felt that after the rigorous interrogation Erica had gone through, there was no need to say anything else. We thought nothing else had to be said,” Giles told the News in regard to his defense strategy.
